Sunday, June 11, 2006

Big Things

Inspired by the large number of objects across the world that are made even LARGER than their intended size, and put on display for all to gawk at, I thought the web was the perfect place for people to post their pictures of these gigantic things. That way, people don't have to take to the roads, they don't even have to get out of their houses to see them.

Since I've only started, there aren't many gargantuan oddities in my collection. And, I've already posted my picture of the very large rocking chair, and the humongous stone, um, pencil?... aka the Washington Monument. So, I don't have many freaks yet in this sideshow. I'm hoping others might be able to contribute their own. I would love to see the big stuff from your journeys.


This is the giant Gaffney peach. It functions as a water tower and therefore is not completely useless. However, I question the designer's use of some sort of spout for the bottom end of the peach. When positioned beneath the large pinkish crack dividing the two halves of the peach, it looks very much like a large hemorrhoid.

I'm thinking some nice trompe l'oeil would have sufficed to create the illusion of a peach. Or maybe even just a stem on the top with some peach paint. But, oh no, the people of Gaffney, North (or possibly South) Carolina would not settle for such. No, no, they did not stop until they had themselves a "real" big peach.

And then there's the other picture I have of something made to be much larger than originally intended. It is also mis-identified. Some people might mistake it for a very small cow, or perhaps a pygmy hippo in need of electrolysis... which it is not. It is, instead, a 60 POUND "miniature" beagle.



Yes, his proportions have greatly affected his functionality. He is still, however, an EATING MACHINE, and I haven't heard of any work stoppages in its 7 year history.

Oh, and there is one last photo I have. It's not actually of something made large and mounted. It is, however, quite an oddity and I just had to share it. I came across this while filling up somewhere in the Carolinas.

I know you've heard that hybrids are the way to go and the car of the future. I wanted to be the first to show you a photo of the next wave in hybrids. I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to be letting this out. More than likely, this one slipped out of the testing facility without approval. I can't imagine they would let such an advancement in automotive technology escape prematurely.

I can't figure out exactly what it is. My initial thoughts are that the public schools of North Carolina requested a more efficient vehicle for transporting large numbers of students. Whatever its intended use, it is obvious that BIG things are happening in the hybrid world!

If you have pictures of interesting things you've come across in your travels, please let me know, I'd love to see them. As you can see, they don't even have to be unusually large to be interesting. I'm sure there are plenty of things that are less useful, and therefore prime to be stared at, because they are smaller than normal (i.e. tiny trains or miniature monuments made of bark).

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Sign of the Beast?

Well, it appears my friend Amy was right after all. Squirrels really are a vicious and possibly possessed species. Here's photographic proof:

(ap photo)


Actually, this was the most-emailed photo on the internet today, according to Yahoo. Apparently, I am not the only person in this world that thinks the squirrels of Alexandria, VA are HILARIOUS -- and extremely photogenic to boot.

Speaking of boots, and my squirrelphobic friends-- Robby and I have just returned from the second leg of the wedding reception tour-- TEXAS!

It was great!

Seeing all of my friends and family again was so great for me. Meeting the rest of my friends and family was... um... so great for Robby too! :D





See how happy he looks? (pay no attention to the blood shot eyes)


Perhaps I'll post a few photos from the fancy reception later. For now, I thought I would put up a few pics of some of the simpler things we saw along the way. Well, ok, so maybe the world's largest cedar rocking chair isn't so simple, but it's one of those wacky "ball-o-twine" things that mysteriously pull people from roadways and force them to chronicle their experience.







So there you have it. Other than the rabid rodents, today (6/6/06)has not been so ominous or demonic at all. The weather was beautiful. People were out enjoying the sights. Bison were, um, mooing?, and the other beasts of burden were pretty much keeping to themselves.

In fact, you might just say today was a little more like....